(Breather)This episode will pick up where we left off and continue to look into the future of health and fitness, with a focus on workplace and career dynamics and exercising discipline with technology use.

Here are some of the most important takeaways from this show:

Evolved Workplace / Career Dynamics:

Now more than ever, more and more people are becoming home-based workers, have a hybrid of a home office, or other collaborative workspaces. This may emanate from quarantine but also makes so much sense on basically every practical level. Who wants to waste time sitting in rush hour when you could be actually getting stuff done? 

One byproduct of the evolved workplace may also be economic repercussions. I think we’ll see a decline in popularity for urban living in favor of focusing on a different quality of life. I’m also noticing, thanks to the Internet, that we have a rapid escalation of progressive culture all over the place, which seems to be spreading from the urban centers in all directions. And with it, an escalation of progressive values in satellite areas. See this already in Sacramento, Bend, OR, Nashville, St. Louis — I even did a primal talk and potluck dinner (might well have been in Santa Monica!)

Technology: Discipline, Restraint, Selectivity, and Pro-Activity:

It is incredibly important to apply discipline, restraint, and selectivity to your use of digital technology. It is also time to wake up to the reality that we are getting brainwashed! We’ve seen how targeted content creates divisiveness and confirmation bias. Tristan Harris, co-founder of Center for Humane Tech and ex-Google design ethicist explains that the algorithms want to draw you in and cause you to use technology for a longer time. Yes, very, very smart people have created a stylized experience for you, instead of you being in the driver’s seat. I also did a whole breather show about managing Technology Addiction, which you can listen to here.

“I’m an expert on how technology hijacks our psychological vulnerabilities,” says Harris, who also was a magician as a kid. He explains that magicians start by looking for blind spots, edges, vulnerabilities, and limits of people’s perception, so they can influence what people do without them even realizing it. And this is exactly what product designers do to your mind. They play your psychological vulnerabilities (consciously and unconsciously) against you in the race to grab your attention. He presents a gnarly top 10 list I also detailed in a breather show. Briefly, they are:

1. Illusion of free choice (control menu)
2. Intermittent variable rewards (like how slot machines trigger dopamine; they provide a reliable dopamine hit)
3. Creating FOMO (which is actually correlated with metabolic disease)
4. Emphasizing social approval (fundamental human drive “Like”)
5. Social reciprocity (tit for tat)
6. Infinite programming (that insidious need to ‘play the next episode’) 
7. Instant interruption: “Maximizing interruptions in the name of business creates a tragedy of the commons, ruining global attention spans and causing billions of unnecessary interruptions each day.”
8. Bundling your reasons with their reasons (the casino registration counter is through the casino floor; if you go to add a friend on Facebook, you’ll get 100 suggestions).
9. Inconvenient choices. If you try to “Cancel” your New York Times subscription, you get a succession of “Are you sure?” 
10. Forecasting errors for time spent: “True cost of a click” in time. Medium.com includes the read time (‘7 minute read’) at the top of every article. 

The ultimate freedom is a free mind, and we need technology that is on our team to help us live, feel, think, and act freely.

So what do you do? First, start with building in other rituals and habits that keep you in balance. Check out my morning routine video for ideas, and be sure to spend 35 minutes, minimum, away from your phone. All manner of workouts are a great habit to pick up (check out some great DIY gym ideas, here), as well as hot and cold therapy, massage appointments, meditation sessions, and fun hobbies like drawing, building legos, or even clay sculpture….all you have to do is figure out which activities you find to be the most engaging and fun, and make it a part of your routine. 

Thanks for listening, and stay tuned for part 3!

TIMESTAMPS:

Brad reminds us of what points he made in the first show regarding personalizing your diet and micro workouts, and maintaining a kinder, gentler, approach to fitness. [01:28]

Take a new look at how to deal with the evolution of the modern workplace. [02:37]

What is going to be the big change in the economy as a result of the pandemic? [06:58]   

When relocating, people need to pay attention to how they integrate into the new area. [11:49]

Develop discipline around your use of technology. [13:23]

Listed are ten ways the social media producers and internet giants grab your attention without your knowing it. [16:51]

Our society seems to suffer a lot from FOMO (fear of missing out) which has been shown to directly correlate to metabolic disease. [18:35]

The ultimate freedom is a free mind. [22:30]

What does Brad say to do? Heighten your awareness. The average person reaches for their phone 150 times per day! [24:21]

LINKS:

• Brad’s Shopping Page
• Tristan Harris
• Center for Humane Technology
• Podcast with Dr. Ron Sinha
• Six dog Greyhound race turns into seven on YouTube
• Greyhound falls but still wins race on Youtube
• Dr. Elisha Goldstein podcast
• Brad’s Morning Routine video
• Dr. Kelly Starrett podcast
• Ready State. com
• Roberto Lopez: How to Build an Awesome Home Boxing Gym and Training Station

LISTEN:

Sponsors

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• Vuori Activewear: The most comfortable, functional, and fashionable gear, evoking the chill SoCal coastal lifestyle

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B.rad Podcast

Brad (00:00):
Hey, Hey, Hey, it’s time for part two of the grand experiment to predict the future of health and fitness and how you can transform your life. We can do this together in 2021 and beyond. These are my hot topics, things on my mind, and they’re formulated into nine steps to improving your life in every direction. So in show number one, we spent a long time talking about diet and the importance and the new trend of personalizing, your approach to healthy eating, rather than just signing up for a template and following that to the letter because someone else recommended it or someone’s feeling great. We got to do a lot of, a lot more experimenting and personalization things like carb intake, things like fasting, all that kind of stuff was covered along with the one, two punch of micro workouts, the fitness breakthrough of the century. And number three on the list, a kinder, gentler approach to fitness, leaving a little bit in the tank each time, uh, evolving your approach to be more broad-based rather than, uh, getting overdone overcooked by chronic cardio, those kinds of topics. So please listen to that show and then we’ll pick it up right now

Brad (02:37):
The fourth item on the list, kind of a wild card, not so much related to diet and exercise, uh, I’m going to call it the evolution of the modern workplace and career dynamics. And of course this has been prompted by the global quarantine, but I think it’s kind of an awakening that we can leverage to be something really super positive. And that is more, uh, independent working. Home-based working, uh, kind of a hybrid of a home and office experience. I’ve actually been living this for the past 25 years since I first got my first long distance job. I commuted to the Bay area. I commuted to Los Angeles and, um, it was sort of an interesting back and forth where I’d have a physical presence in the office with my coworkers and meetings and consultations and brainstorming.

Brad (03:28):
And then I’d go home in my cave and produce a lot of, uh, focused output. So I feel like I had the best of both worlds when I was working for Champion Nutrition, CytoSport, uh, the Spinning Program, the spinning indoor exercise program, Interwoven software company, and of course, Primal Blueprint and Mark Sisson based down there in LA when I was up here in Northern California. Uh, so I think a lot of people are experiencing this, the beauty of having that increased flexibility and especially doing a way with some of the most ridiculous aspects of modern society. I’m going to pinpoint the morning rush hour commute as the craziest thing I can imagine. And so stupid and such an incredible waste of time. Uh, this epiphany came to me many years ago at my first job when I left the beautiful college campus of UC Santa Barbara, where bicycling is the main mode of transportation and everything is self-contained in the world, famous college town of Isla Vista where all the students are compacted into the most densely populated square mile West of the Mississippi.

Brad (04:33):
And he just pedal right over onto the adjacent campus and have so simple and wonderful. And then all of a sudden I find myself teleported to, uh, the gnarly rush hour traffic in Los Angeles, commuting from, uh, my home, my parents’ home an hour and 15 minutes each way to the high rise downtown wearing that suit and tie. And just wondering if, uh, this is what life’s all about, and I couldn’t believe how miserable and disturbing the morning and evening commute where in fact I’d be so exhausted on my evening commute home, that I would be in danger of falling asleep at the wheel. It was so tough on me. And then I’d pull over at the park on the way home and I’d say, well, I’m so tired. I really can’t do a proper training session, but I’ll just start jogging and see if I can run a mile or two and kind of feel better.

Brad (05:24):
And as soon as I got out of the car and laced up my shoes and set off into the nice, cool evening air, I’d feel fantastic. So it was all like mental and also the physical aspects of being in a confined metal box and the stale air and the whole thing making you tired and miserable behind the wheel and traveling 15 to 20 miles an hour. Not much fun, either thinking, gee, I could go faster on my bike. Maybe I’ll try that one day. I actually did try that when I worked for Spinning and, uh, was, uh, working, uh, staying with, uh, my, my parents and my family home in San Valley. And the office was over in West Los Angeles. Anyone familiar with LA traffic knows this 405 freeway is one of the worst in the entire United States. It’s just jam packed.

Brad (06:08):
And there is no such thing as rush hour. It’s the rush hours of most of the chunk of the day you know, from 5:30-6:00 AM all the way till 10:45 the thing is slow going.and so basically I had the worst commute set up for me. But if I rode my mountain bike over the mountain trails and busted over to West side of LA and cruise through the proper streets, I could get to the office faster than driving my car. And this was about a 20 mile commute. So, uh, that made for a fun morning. And, um, boy, the, the rush hour, when you think about why does everyone absolutely positively have to be on the road at the same time? Can’t we think more creatively? Can’t we have more flexible work schedules? And it per it perpetuated until 2020 when I, my first insights were coming to me in 1986 when I was commuting.

Brad (06:59):
It’s like, okay, finally. And I think we’re gonna see a point of no return. Well, we’ll never go back to that inefficient, uh, lifestyle and health compromising patterns of the old days in the name of commerce. So I think that’s a huge, uh, boost or a positive takeaway that we can get from, uh, the horror of having to endure a global pandemic. What’s going to happen with the economic repercussions here as an aside to a health and fitness show.?I think some interesting things are afoot. What could we see, maybe we’ll see a, uh, a huge decline in the extremely elite pricing that you see in urban areas. You can get a small apartment in New York city for 3,888 a month. I know cause I visited one. And if you imagine that monthly outlay, uh, applied to housing opportunities in super cool up and coming areas like Nashville or Boise, Oh my gosh.

Brad (07:57):
The quality of life change is phenomenal. Um, same with the classic, uh, standard everyday home in Santa Monica, Brentwood, Beverly Hills area of Los Angeles, where you’re paying 2 to 3 million to get what most people would, could be considered, you know, a template house that you’ll see across the country, three bedrooms, two bathrooms, 2000 square feet, whatever, um, apply that to a different housing market. And it’s like, Oh, you like horses, sweetie.? We can get a horse corral. How about tennis? You want to have a tennis court and a swimming pool too? Oh boy. Yeah. Huge difference. Previously I think it was impossible for a lot of us to imagine because the, um, the culture was so different and you’re, you know, moving out to the boonies and you’re giving up all these wonderful attributes that we see in the urban centers where, um, you know, the, the center piece of whatever it is that you like, music, healthy eating, interesting diverse restaurants, connection with similar hobbies.

Brad (08:58):
Like if you want to do triathlon, you can join a triathlon training group in an urban center that might not be available to you in Santa Fe, New Mexico, or what have you. Uh, but I think in the last 10, 15, 20 years, thanks to the connection afforded by the internet. Uh, we have seen a rapid escalation of progressive culture all over the place. And it’s pretty cool. I know a lot of people in the local mindset are disappointed with the overrun. Uh, the tech workers come in to Austin, Texas, and the place has transformed from, uh, a simple state capitol town to the epicenter of coolness and progressive culture anywhere on the planet. Not to mention podcast hosts, Xtrordinair, Peter Attia, Joe Rogan, Tim Ferris, Rip Esselstyn. Everybody’s moving down to Austin, Texas, if they’re cool and popular enough. But I’ve been visiting there for so long and I’ve always loved it.

Brad (09:55):
There’s so much, uh, positive energy there, healthy eating, healthy fit population,. just like Boulder. Colorado has always been lauded for having the fittest and most outdoor adventurous population anywhere. And boy, the price to pay now to be in these epicenters of culture is pretty extreme. And also some adverse effects of the incredible rapid growth of, uh, you know, places like Boulder and Austin, which have now become tech centers. And they have rush hour commutes and traffic and all that stuff that maybe some people originally moved there to get away from. But today, wow, wherever you go, if you look carefully, you can see this proliferation of coolness in satellite areas all over the place.Sacramento, where I’ve spent a lot of time in the last 25 years. You just walk down individual street and see the transformation of what you saw, you know, five years ago, 10 years ago.

Brad (10:50):
And now they have colonic clinics and corner stores that are healthy, natural foods, independent providers of, uh, you know, massage therapy, crystal stores, CrossFit box, uh, cycling, indoor cycling centers, all that kind of thing. Same with Bend ,Oregon or Nashville or St. Louis. Oh my gosh. A few years ago, I went over to St. Louis and did a seminar for Primal living and talking about our Primal Blueprint books and was invited to a potluck dinner by the local primal paleo club. And I might as well have been in Santa Monica or Manhattan with the energy and the interest and the level of knowledge and commitment to, uh, what would be called a alternative or progressive way of life here and, uh, whatever St. Louis. Boom, put your finger on a map. Head there. And you’re probably fine a cool aspect that will agree with you if you’re thinking of relocating and applying that extremely high cost of living to a more affordable place.

Brad (11:49):
And so every person that you know, makes an exodus from, uh, San Francisco Bay area or New York and cruises on down to Sarasota, Florida, or whatever their relocation pattern is, they’re kind of bringing a lot of that positive energy with them hopefully. Although I just had a talk with Rob Wolf on the podcast, uh, where he’s considering moving from that hotbed Austin area up to Montana for a lesser population and less hectic complexity. And he says, in some cases, people, uh, might want to tread more lightly when they introduce and integrate into a new area where their energy might not be aligned. And that’s something to really pay attention to. And I mentioned, uh, up in Auburn, where I used to live, uh, with all the running trails and the American river Canyon, uh, people would come up from the urban center of Sacramento and those runners kind of sorta at times, treated the trail differently than maybe the local who was a seasoned ultra runner and spent, you know, days and years out in the canyons.

Brad (12:52):
You might see more energy gel wrappers discarded in the bushes. Uh, I guess maybe they’re thinking that the park service is going to come pick up after them or something that happens when you’re running on a well-traveled urban trail. Just a quick example. But that’s an interesting one and I’m sure many people listening are affected or have it in play. I know it was a, um, interesting decision to move up to Lake Tahoe and get closer to nature. And I feel that’s more important than ever these days.

Brad (13:23):
And that leads us to the next item on the list, which has to do with technology. Whew!! Yes, this is my, my pet peeve. My pet project is how this is taking over our lives and the tremendous importance these days of exercising discipline, restraint, selectivity, and being proactive with your use of technology rather than reactive and letting it define your life. And when the text message ding goes off, you reach for it reflexively and you disengage from whatever conversation or important thing you’re doing at the time. So, ah, we can hope and pray that some progress comes in this area. Again, I’m trying to predict the future here. So hopefully, uh, we’re going to see more discipline and restraint, selectivity and proactivity when it comes to technology use. But, uh, in addition to hoping and praying, it’s time to wake up to the reality that we’re getting brainwashed by the world’s leading experts that are vying for our attention and WHEW This guy, Tristan Harris has put out some interesting content. He’s the co-founder of the Center for Humane Technology. I did a breather show honoring some of his work. He had a nice long conversation with Joe Rogan. You can listen there, uh, but he describes some of the insidious forces in, uh, the leading technology providers where the content that we’re engaging with is being targeted to create, uh, divisiveness, confirmation bias and additional use.

Brad (14:58):
So it’s sort of, um, salacious and tantalizing in a way that’s maybe not authentic and totally information-based because the main goal of all the providers of technology, all the big players in, in the internet is to engage as much of our attention as possible. The more attention they grab from us, the more money they make. So they have some of the smartest folks in the world figuring out ways to keep us stuck on Facebook longer than we intended, or the tips and tricks that will suck us in and keep us in for a long time. Uh, so Harris explains that these algorithms that they make to draw you in and use technology for a longer time are sort of, uh, setting up what you think is an authentic experience, but it’s a stylized experience where you’re not no longer in the driver’s seat.

Brad (15:49):
So when you type in that first search on Google, like average number of prescriptions, uh, taken by, uh, average American, and the answer is I think 12.8. I was just looking that up today in the course of conversation, Holy crap, that’s average, average is 12 prescriptions. The average person is rocking 12 prescriptions in their medicine cabinet? That’s horrifying. Uh, but then if you continue to engage and click through on this topic, you might find things like advertising driven landing sites, or, uh, shocking articles that will, uh, alarm you create, uh, anger and these emotional reactions that draw us in deeper. Especially when it comes to the hot topics of the day and like politics, right? So this is, um, uh, designed to create divisiveness, confirmation bias and things that get us really riled up. So from this breather show on managing tech addiction, we can give you a few tidbits here, but please go listen to the whole show.

Brad (16:51):
And this is a quote from Harris, “I’m an expert on how technology hijacks our psychological vulnerabilities.” Yeah. And he references his time, uh, as a magician, when he was a young person. Magicians start by looking for blind spots, edges, vulnerabilities, and limits of people’s perception so they can influence what people do without them even realizing it. This is exactly what product designers do to your mind. They mess with your mind, they play with your psychological vulnerabilities consciously and unconsciously, and they hold them against you in a race to grab your attention. Here is a gnarly top 10 list of ways that the, uh, social media producers and internet giants, uh, mess with your head and via your attention. Um, one of them, number one on the list, we’re going to hit these really quickly more details than that breather show. Number one is creating the illusion of free choice.

Brad (17:47):
Like you’re in control, you’re pressing the buttons that you want, but really you’re being driven and steered to, uh, things that they want you to do. Uh, this concept of intermittent variable rewards is what makes social media and mobile technology so addictive. The intermittent variable rewards is best represented by a slot machine, right? So every time you pull the slot, the reason slots are addictive is because you never know you could win the jackpot. You could lose. It’s a new thing. Every time. There’s nothing that you can count on or consistent or reliable about it. So you have to be on the edge of your seat, triggering that dopamine hit every single time you pull the slot machine or engage with your Instagram feed, right? You’re going to open that thing up. And you’re going to hear from different people with different pictures and different stories.

Brad (18:35):
And so is a guaranteed reliable dopamine hit. Same with the text message. Ding, who’s the text from what’s it all about? We don’t know we better reach for it and check it out. Uh, so they’re also guilty of creating FOMO, the disease state that’s a epidemic these days, listen to my show with Dr. Ron Sinha where he talks about his patients in the Silicon Valley, that the highest paid workers possibly in the world and how they still have this state of FOMO that is messing with their lives and their physical health so much that he actually identifies it as, uh, directly correlating to metabolic disease because it’s higher levels of stress hormones, chronic overproduction of stress hormones, because it’s keeping up with the Joneses and the rat race in its highest form when you’re in that high-income, high affluence area, right? And nothing better than going onto social media and looking at your friends, toasting you in that Christmas card, Christmas picture from Hawaii or wherever they are while you’re sitting in your cubicle wishing that your life could be better or as good as the, uh, the projections on social media.

Brad (19:37):
Number four on the list is emphasizing social approval. So we’re driven to hit that like button. We want to receive the likes ourselves, and they’re preying upon our good graces because we want to reciprocate and, not leave people hanging when they like your post or follow you. Of course, uh, you’re obligated to follow them back. And that’s number five on the list is that social reciprocity or four and five together would be playing upon the good graces of humans, our politeness, and our sensitivity to others. Number six is the, uh, technology of infinite programming. Yes. When did that actually kick in? I think Harris gave some actual dates when once upon a time YouTube was, Hey, go in there and type a six dog Greyhound race turns into seven.

Brad (20:31):
And please do that because that is the hardest I’ve laughed. I’ve watched it so many times over the years. It’s always fantastic. The video has like 121,000 views, but like three or 4,000 of them are mine. So it really only has 117 individual users. Yes, six dog Greyhound race turns into seven. And then my other favorite Greyhound, one Greyhound falls, but still wins race. And you will die laughing, but that’s an example of a proactive engagement with YouTube, which I totally support. But then with the infinite programming technology, what happens when you watch that sticks dog Greyhound race turns into seven, you are going to autoplay the next video in their lineup that they deem to be appropriate and most capable of engaging more of your precious time. I remember in Harris’s show with Joe Rogan, he was talking about, uh, if a, uh, a teenage girl, right.

Brad (21:28):
They know who we are now and our ages and our interests, if a teenage girl types in something about dieting, um, they will, uh, be delivered content referencing anorexia because the experts have shown that that’s the most salacious. And that’s the most likely to draw in a teenage girl who might be wanting to look for healthy eating advice. And instead, they’re getting a commentary on a serious disease. Pretty crazy, scary stuff. So that’s the infinite programming. Number seven is the instant interruption “maximizing interruptions in the name of business” creates a tragedy of the comments, ruining global attention spans and causing billions of unnecessary interruptions each day. Right? That’s when we fail to exercise the discipline to turn off these apps, uh, I’ve heard some experts talk about how they delete social media apps from their mobile phone, and only engage with them in a desktop manner so that it’s not interfering with their roaming around having an enjoyable day, maybe enjoying the outdoors or exercise, or a hike or a shopping in the market and interacting with other humans. So the instant interruption is a big deal.

Brad (22:30):
Number eight is bundling your reasons for engaging with technology, with their reasons. So, Hey, how about this? I met someone at the supermarket because I was paying attention instead of looking down at my phone. And I said, what’s your Facebook account? I’ll follow you. So I open up Facebook, I type in their name and I click the button to follow them. But in the act of doing that, I am also asked by Facebook to answer to a hundred friend requests, right? So my reason was to engage and add one person to my group. And I am thrown in with a whole bunch of other decisions and pressures, bundling the reasons. Number nine is inconvenient choices. For example, that Harris gives, if you want to cancel your subscription to the New York times, you get not a one button, click away, see you later, but a succession of windows and offerings, making sure and making sure again, that you really want to do it. So even, even the choice to disengage is difficult.

Brad (23:32):
Next is forecasting errors for how much time it’s going to take. So when I meet the person in the supermarket and I say, Oh, I’d love to you to my following, or I’d love to follow you. And I go in there to do a quick 30 second- act, but then I have to answer to a hundred friend requests or whatever’s going on in there. This is the quote true cost of a click in your time. Credit to medium.com. That’s a great subscription website that has some really cool articles on different topics. And on most of their articles, there’s a little, uh, designation under the title that says seven minute read or a five minute read. And, uh, it kind of gives you a predicted estimate for how long it’s gonna take to engage with this offering.

Brad (24:21):
So in conclusion from Harris’s list, he says, are you upset that technology hijacks your agency? I am too. These are just a few of the ways that the big guys do it. And there are literally thousands of others, people working all day, very smart people to get you hooked. The ultimate freedom is a free mind, and we need technology that’s on our team to help us live, feel, think, and act freely. So if you’re more interested in this topic, go check out the website at the center for humane technology. And at the very least it can do is increase your awareness. So ending this item on the list, what does Brad say to do?

Brad (25:00):
First of all, let’s heighten our awareness of this heightened, your awareness of how many times you reach for your phone. One of my early shows was with Dr. Elisha Goldstein of the California Center for Mindfulness in Los Angeles. And, um, he was, uh, talking during the show about how people, um, turn off all their beeps and dings and buzzers. And I was so proud of myself, listening to him, talk about this, because I definitely have made a huge effort to do that. So I don’t want any sounds going off except for the phone ringing. So my texts are quiet. Uh there’s no, uh, what do you call them? Alerts or things that are going to distract me. It’s up to me to be proactive and go pull up a social media app or whatever. And he says, uh, at the end of his description, he’s go. He goes, and those people that turn off all their dings and buzzers and alerts, they have, have to reach for their phone a ton of times a day, because they’re afraid they might miss something.

Brad (25:55):
I’m like, Oh, shit! the guy’s right! You know, I don’t know if I got a text message. Uh, and if I’m waiting one waiting for one or expecting one or wondering if I got one, I have to reach for my phone, the average person reaches for their phone 150 times per day. Ah, and there’s nothing you can do, including turning off the dings, except for, to heighten your awareness and try to put that thing away. So one of the suggestions I have on this topic that’s worked for me is to build in other rituals and habits in daily life that keep you in balance. My favorite example, which I’ve talked about quite frequently recently is my morning flexibility, mobility, core strengthening, leg strengthening routine. That’s escalated in degree of difficulty and commitment over time. Escalated very gracefully. So it’s still something that I do easily without thinking about it without needing to apply creative energy or willpower.

Brad (26:49):
I just get up. And I know the first thing I do every day, my streak is now right around four years, maybe more that I haven’t missed a single day. I do the leg swinging and all this stuff you can see on YouTube. We’ll put the link in the notes. It’s called Brad Kearns’ morning routine. You can see my old one and how it’s evolved to the new one filmed in 2020. And it’s pretty tough. It’s pretty, it’s a pretty sincere commitment. What started as a 12 minute routine and back in 2017, now it takes a minimum of 35 minutes and it feels like I’ve done a pretty darn good workout without even thinking about it or counting it as one of my official workouts. But I know every single day when the day starts that the first 35 minutes are without mobile technology, what do I do when I finished the routine?

Brad (27:33):
Do I reach right from my phone? Yeah, sometimes. I mean, uh, what the heck? But at least I have this built-in pattern where I’m not getting dragged away from my highest priorities and the way that I want to spend my day and start my morning because the addictive nature of technology makes it a very tough battle. Uh, Dr. Kelly Starrett on our great show, a couple of years back, he’s the expert in mobility, flexibility, uh, physical therapy. His site, the Ready State.com is a wonderful resource for getting fit and healthy and preventing injury. Uh, but during the show, he kind of segued away from his area of main expertise into his area of main interest and concern in modern life, which is this, uh, over overcoming of technology taking over. And he was harping on things like, uh, plugging your phone in outside of your bedroom so you won’t be tempted.

Brad (28:25):
So we can think we’re strong enough and disciplined and motivated enough, or you hear the show and you go back and for the next week, you’re really good about not reaching for your phone first thing in the morning. But we have to build in systems and patterns that make it easy for us to succeed. Right? What about if you have a massage appointment once a week and you make that commitment to yourself? I think it’s money well spent. I think there’s a lot of therapeutic and health benefits to it. And one of them is you don’t have your phone on during the massage. I don’t know some people, where did I see that? Uh, was it on the, um, one of the Lance Armstrong videos where he was on the table and then looking through the, uh, the head hole, uh, to a phone he was holding in his hand.

Brad (29:07):
So it’s possible to, uh, to break that rule, but most of the time you’re in a massage, you’re letting go your world’s problems, same with doing, uh, heat or cold therapy, um, taking your mobile device into a 180 degrees sauna. I will guarantee you that pretty soon, you’ll get the alert message on the phone screen saying too hot to use. And that’ll be the last time you even attempt something like that. When you’re in there for a sauna session, uh, performing a meditation session, committing to hobbies, like drawing a building Legos. I used to love to do clay sculpture when I had more time. Somehow it’s not fitting into my routine anymore, but I got really good at doing dogs. That’s all I did. So I’d go into the clay studio once a week, and I’d just work on my dog game, man, and work on another dog, another dog, another dog, nothing else.

Brad (29:57):
I had no other interest in sculpting anything else. Anyway, it was great. And I didn’t have my phone on when I was, hands dirty, full of clay doing a dog. So there you go. And that is number five, disciplining your use of technology.

Brad (30:13):
On, we go to number six and we will hit six, seven, eight, and nine in the next show. Thank you so much for listening. What’s coming ahead? Number six, prioritizing live social interaction in your intimate circle of family and friends. Number seven, evolving your love relationships to the next level. This can make or break your health in general, your hormone status, your longevity, like no other thing. And number eight, reprogramming your brain. That’s right. The neuroplasticity of your brain has the potential to be rewired and reprogrammed. You can go from glass half empty to glass, half full type of person.

Brad (30:56):
You can handle these issues that get programmed into you when you were a child. The flawed subconscious childhood programming that plays out every day in our behavior patterns. Fun stuff coming up and number nine last but not least taking baby steps to achieve your goals rather than getting overwhelmed and struggling and failing and giving up. That’s what’s coming on the next show. Thank you for listening to part two.

Brad (31:21):
Thank you for listening to the show. I love sharing the experience with you and greatly appreciate your support please. Email podcast@bradventures.com with feedback, suggestions, and questions for the Q and A shows. Subscribe to our email list of Brad kearns.com for a weekly blast about the published episodes and a wonderful bi- monthly newsletter edition with informative articles and practical tips for all aspects of healthy living. You can also download several awesome free eBooks when you subscribe to the email list.

Brad (31:55):
And if you could go to the trouble to leave a five or five star review with Apple podcasts or wherever else, you listen to the shows that would be super, incredibly awesome. It helps raise the profile of the be read podcast and attract new listeners. And did you know that you can share a show with a friend or loved one by just hitting a few buttons in your player and firing off a text message? My awesome podcast player called overcast allows you to actually record a soundbite excerpt from the episode you’re listening to and fire it off with a quick text message. Thank you so much for spreading the word and remember be rad.

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